Jewel-Osco Stores in Illinois Snatch Up Final Batch of Hostess Twinkies

The Jewel-Osco grocery store chain in Chicago has bought the entire last shipment of the iconic Hostess Twinkies snack-cake brand, following news the company would no longer be producing the golden cream-filled treats — at least until another company saves the brand from bankruptcy.

More than 20,000 boxes of Twinkies — as well as approximately 5,000 boxes of Zingers, Ding Dongs, and Orange Cupcakes — were sent on their way to Illinois.

“Once we received a call from Hostess asking if we would take the products, we told them we would take 100 percent of what they had,” Mike Siemenas, a spokesman for Jewel-Osco’s parent company, told Fox News. “And based on the demand that the Chicago market had for Hostess products, we knew that that was the best place for them.”

Siemenas has no reason to believe the products won’t fly off the shelves because when Hostess announced its liquidation in November, the company saw a big uptick in sales. This was following a bankruptcy plea due to failed contract negotiations with the company’s bakers union.

There was even a Twinkie eBay black market created on the bankruptcy news. In November, boxes of 10 Twinkies were going for $25. There are still pages and pages of Twinkies up for sale on eBay.

Some of those snack cake deals aren’t faring particularly well. One auction asked $1 million for a package of Twinkies to be delivered to any location in the continental U.S., with a corporate logo displayed on the side of a van.

“I will also participate in any marketing/PR activities that you would want to organize for this event along the way,” the facilitator of the auction wrote. “After I deliver the Twinkies, you may keep the vehicle that I make the delivery in. Also for a winning offer of $500,000.00 or greater, I will have your logo of choice tattooed on my back (not to exceed 9 inches by 9 inches square).”